SPRING TWP., Pa. — During a relatively quick meeting Monday night, the Spring Township supervisors learned that the township continues to be under siege by fraud and forgery activity.
Stephen Powell, the township's deputy police chief, informed the board that complaints jumped from 80 in 2020 to 242 at the end of September 2021. Most of the fraud complaints continue to be related to attempts to use residents' information to collect unearned unemployment compensation.
Police promotions
Powell also informed the supervisors of two upcoming promotions in the police department. Det. Sgt. Stephen Brock will be promoted to lieutenant, and Field Training Ofc. Joshua Knoblauch will be promoted to sergeant. The officers will be sworn in at the next supervisors' meeting on Nov. 8.
Property maintenance complaint
Township Manager John Groller reported on the follow-up to a complaint made at last month's meeting by a resident in the 2500 block of Reading Boulevard.
The resident reported property maintenance issues at another residence on the street. Groller said citations had been issued against the property, but there has been no response and the township has done as much as it legally can at this time.
Complicating the issue, Groller said, is that the property is owned by a woman who appears to have dementia, and her son is responsible for maintaining the property.
Groller said he is considering taking the matter to the Berks County Area Agency on Aging so that it can perhaps move the issue into the Berks County Orphans' Court for adjudication.
Other actions
The supervisors approved a payment in the amount of $17,234 to H&K Group Inc., Skippack, Montgomery County, for the 2021 roadwork project. Also approved was a $420,073.32 payment to Asphalt Maintenance Solutions LLC, Emmaus, Lehigh County, for the 2021 roadwork maintenance project.
A stormwater maintenance agreement was approved with the owners of a property at 461 Miller Rd. who plan to add a swimming pool, deck and other property improvements.
Also, the supervisors agreed to pass along to the zoning board, without comment, a request for variances for the property located at 3001 Shillington Rd., which is the location of Anita's Biscotti. The owner wants permission to fulfill pick-up orders from the garage instead of the basement of the home.
In addition, the supervisors approved a rental agreement with the Western Berks Ambulance Association for the use of the township fire department's station until its building is rebuilt following a recent fire. The monthly rental will be $2,500, effective Sept. 1, 2021.
At the request of Solicitor Dan Becker, the supervisors approved contacting Dan Cohen, Cohen Law Group, Pittsburgh, to assist the township in negotiations for an agreement with Service Electric Cable for the addition of coaxial and fiber optic cable.
Becker told the supervisors that Cohen is a recognized expert in the field of cable and wireless utilities and would provide the township with expertise that his firm cannot provide.
